her piece of the sky
by EmberMountains
Summary: "Maybe after all this time, this was her piece of the sky." When a light attaches itself to Hensley Hail, the last thing she is expecting is to find herself surrounded by the Avengers. Even stranger, are her new abilities and the attention they bring, especially the attention of a masked women, a god, and a super soldier.
1. Chapter 1: A Blueish Light

_Hey everyone! It's been a while but here is a new story for you all! I am actually really excited about this one. New OC, but she will have similar abilities to Georgiana, if you read my other works. (Just because I want to keep exploring that ability and how to write it.) This is going to be a slow burn, and possibly a love triangle, I haven't decided, so strap on in and let's go!_

 _I own nothing of the Marvel universe and am making no money off of this. The only thing that is mine is my OC._

 _Enjoy!_

 **Chapter One: A Blueish Light**

 _November, 13_

One moment the sky was grey and snowing, the next moment a beam of blue and white light cut through the clouds. Skidding to a halt, Hensley Hail pulled her earphones out and stared up into the sky. The beam of light streaked across the clouds, falling towards the Earth as if it was heavy. A strong, chilling wind pushed Hensley's sweaty running clothes close to her skin. The beam of light slowed and swayed in the wind, its shape changing from a strong line to a gentle floating ball.

Wrapping the headphones around her phone, Hensley pocketed it into her jacket and tugged on her white beanie so that it once again covered her ears. The floating light looked blue at its core, with white misting around it as if it had an almost invisible outer coating. Reaching a hand up into the air, Hensley carefully caged the light between her fingers. She smiled, it was warm and soft, and pulsed in her palm.

Hensley glanced around the park near her apartment complex. The almost frozen lake was calm, and the frosted covered trees were dancing in the harsh wind. There was a couple walking hand in hand on the other side of the water, a view of downtown Denver and the mountains in the background. The world seemed quiet.

The misting blue light brightened, then expanded around her arm. Hensley dropped her hand, as if trying to throw the light away, but it condensed and slammed into her. There was a large _pop,_ then silence, then blackness started to cover Hensley's eyes.

Then there was nothing at all.

* * *

She felt silk on her skin. Hensley rubbed her forehead. Everything hurt, as if she was sore from an activity or trip to the gym she hadn't done. Groaning, she opened her eyes and froze.

This was not her bed. This was not her room.

Hensley flung herself into an upright position and reached for her jacket pocket. Her hand touched a cold tank top instead. Her clothes had changed. Her running winter gear had disappeared and been replaced with soft shorts and a tank top.

Hensley scanned the room, her heart beating hard in her chest. Where the hell was she? The room she was in was large and empty, with tall glass windows that gave a striking view of a city landscape from above. Slipping out of the grey bed, Hensley walked to the windows, her bare feet sinking into the lush carpet. The city outside was not Denver. It wasn't even Colorado.

"Am I – am I in New York?" Hensley asked out loud to the empty room, her fingertips touching the glass.

"Yes, Ms. Hail, that is correct."

Hensley spun around to face the room, but there was no one there.

Hands clutched together in front of her heart, Hensley cleared her throat.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Hello," said the cool female voice.

Again, Hensley spun around the room, but it was empty. Just the bed, a large black dresser in the corner, a long mirror, and a nightstand.

"Where – where are you?" Hensley's voice shook. She tried to make it sound even. "And, where am I?"

"I am not anywhere," came the cool female voice. "My name is Friday. I am a natural-language user interface created by Tony Stark. You are in the Stark Tower, in New York."

In the corner of the ceiling was a small round speaker. Hensley moved under it.

"So, are you watching me?"

"No." said Friday. "There are no cameras in the guest rooms."

The word "guest" stuck out as strange. She would be able to leave, right, if she was a guest?

Hensley walked over to the door and pulled on the handle. It opened. Outside was a long grey hallway that was decorated in orange art and tall windows.

"May I suggest changing before you leave the room?" asked Friday.

Hensley turned to look back into the room. One of the drawers in the black dresser opened, and Hensley could make out her winter running gear. Closing the door, Hensley slipped on her running tights and long sleeved t-shirt. Someone had laundered her clothes, they were warm and smelled of soap. She took her phone out of the jacket pocket. One missed call, from Mom, and one text message from her friend Sara, asking if she wanted to go to the movies. Hensley checked the date on the home screen.

"It's tomorrow," Hensley told herself.

"Yes," said Friday. "You have been asleep for twenty-four hours. You were brought to the Stark Tower about three hours ago, after you were transferred from the Denver Hospital. You were found in a park, freezing and unconscious, and bleeding for serve cuts. No doctor has been able to figure out why. Would you like me to ring for Tony Stark? To answer more of your questions? Or Ms. Potts?"

"Um."

Hensley didn't know. She felt like she needed to lay back down. Why was Tony Stark – the famous Iron Man – interested in her?

She caught a look of herself in a mirror. Her coffee colored skin seemed healthier than it usually did, and her freckles more prominent. Her curly, shoulder length black hair seemed more shinny and bouncy. Tugging her socks onto her feet, Hensley walked back into the hallway. Picking a direction, she walked until she found the elevator. She hit the button, waiting for it to open, although she wasn't sure where she would go or what she would do. She realized she hadn't found her shoes. She took out her phone, but she wasn't sure who to call. Maybe she should start with her Mom.

The elevator door opened.

"Oh!" Hensley jumped.

There was a woman in the elevator, who looked just as surprised to see her. Hensley took in the high heels and copper hair.

"You're Pepper Potts." Hensley found herself saying. "The Pepper Potts."

The women smiled. "And you are Hensley Hail. How are you feeling?"

That seemed like a very odd question, but now that she thought about it, she no longer felt sore and her head no longer hurt.

Hensley's eyebrows pulled together. "I feel fine."

Pepper nodded. "Why don't we go down to the kitchen and find some food. I'll explain everything that I know."

Without really deciding, Hensley found herself walking into the elevator. The door closed, and the elevator zoomed downwards.

"You must have a million questions," said Pepper.

"Not to sound rude, or anything, but what the hell am I doing here?"

Pepper smiled. She had a kind smile. Hensley was surprised at how warm Pepper Potts was, she had always looked a little cold on the news channels.

"You were found scrapped and bleeding, unconscious, in a park outside of Denver."

"I was bleeding?"

Pepper nodded. "It looked as if a bear had torn most of your skin off, but it was too evenly placed for an animal to cause those markings."

"But I don't have a scratch on me."

One corner of Pepper's lips tugged downwards.

"No. That's why you are here. You self-healed."

"I what?"

The door of the elevator opened, and Hensley followed Pepper into another hallway and then into a stainless-steel kitchen. Pepper motioned for Hensley to sit on a stool that was tucked under the kitchen island, and passed over a small basket full of different kinds of break rolls. Hensley picked one up at random to be polite, and nibbled at it.

Pepper was pulling something up on her phone.

"The news was going to feature this footage, but Tony paid them enough to stop it. I think S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the loop now, so they should be able to protect you, too."

Hensley's head spun. Her mouth opened, as if to ask a question that hadn't formed completely in Hensley's mind. She shut her jaw and leaned forward to look at Pepper's phone.

Someone had a video of her laying down in the frosted grass of the park outside her apartment complex. In the video, Hensley's skin looked as if it had been shredded by a cat. Blood was seeping onto her white beanie. Hensley touched her head, wondering what had happened to the beanie.

As the video went on, Hensley watched herself be placed onto a stretcher and then into an ambulance. The video then cut to a new scene where there was a reporter standing outside the hospital.

"The identity of the woman is still unknown," said the reporter, her blond hair flying in the Colorado winter wind. "But what we do know is that her injuries, much to the surprise of the hospital's staff, seemed to have self-healed. What we do know is that the woman was found –"

Hensley paused the video and pushed it back across the table. Pepper turned the video off.

"I don't understand," Hensley said.

"Neither do we." Pepper poured a glass of water and set it down in front of Hensley. "Do you remember what it was that attacked you? Maybe that would be a good place to start."

"I wasn't attacked." Hensley placed her bread roll to the side. "I was on my daily jog, and there was this light that shot through the clouds, and then it kind of settled, and I touched it. Then everything went dark."

"A light did that to you?"

Hensley stood up from her stool. She wanted to sleep. "I know it sounds crazy. But – but – look, I have work tomorrow, I feel fine, can I go home now?"

The door to the kitchen opened quietly, and there stood Tony Stark, in a t-shirt and shocks, and an a Stark IPad in his hands.

"I wouldn't worry about your boss," Tony said. Hensley was surprised to find he sounded just like he did on television. "I already called him and donated to his little bookstore. He said you're welcome to take your job back, but I told him that that was unlikely, because he now believes that you are working for me."

"What? Why would you say that?"

Hensley brushed passed the famous Avenger towards the kitchen exit. Tony reached out and tugged Hensley to a stop.

"You can't go home. Not yet," said Tony Stark.

Hensley tugged her arm free. "And why is that."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. "Because there were three shots of light that where spotted around the globe today. One that attached itself to you, and two others. The two people who were last spotted with the lights have since disappeared. Someone is out there looking for you."

Hensley studied his face. He looked completely serious. He was shorter than she had imagined him being. Maybe his Iron Man suit gave him some height.

"Why would someone be looking for me."

"You can self-heal, and do other things, for all we know. In the wrong hands that could be powerful." Tony turned to study her face, as if searching for something that wasn't there. "Could you heal yourself before the light?"

"You think I have powers now, because of some beam of light?" Hensley asked, and glanced over Tony's shoulder to Pepper, as if to check for confirmation. Pepper's expression was collected and blank.

"Actually, yes." Tony placed his IPad on the kitchen counter. "S.H.I.E.L.D. and I think that the light came from the Tesseract."

Hensley sighed. She felt exhausted. She wanted her warm bed in Colorado. She had the sudden thought that she wasn't going to see Denver for a very long time.

"The what?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Start

_Hello again!_

 _I forgot to mention, but this story takes place after both Captain American: Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarok (although the characters on Earth don't know that yet) so watch out for any spoilers. _

_This story is less planned out than usual - although still planned out - so let me know of any suggestions/thoughts/feelings you might have :)_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Chapter Two: The Start**

 _November, 20_

The story was that Hensley got an internship at STARK Industries, and that was what Hensley told her Mom and her friends.

"Will you still be coming home for Thanksgiving?" her mom had asked over the phone.

"Sorry, Mom," Hensley had replied, willing her voice to sound cheerful. "I can't take vacation days yet, I only just started."

Hensley had a feeling that she wasn't going to go home for any holidays, any time soon.

Mr. Stark – Tony – had warned her that it might take a couple of days before Everett K. Ross would be able to come over and help Hensley set up something more permanent.

"Permanent?" Hensley had asked. "I don't want permanent. I want to go home."

Pepper and Tony had exchanged sad glances.

"Look, kid." Tony had placed a hand on her shoulder, as if trying to comfort her, before taking a bit out of a pop tart. "You were most likely struck by an infinity stone. The last people who have a slightly similar story all developed immense powers. You're a danger to yourself and everyone around you until we know exactly what happened to you."

Hensley had spent the last few days telling her mom not to worry, reading quietly in Pepper's library in a large armchair that overlooked New York, and wandering around Stark Tower. Pepper and Tony were usually out, working, and Hensley felt awkward speaking with Friday, so she spent most of her days quietly by herself. She didn't mind the quiet, she actually kind of enjoyed it. She had always been the quiet girl at school, and college, and in the little bookstore where she worked. She didn't mind sitting back and observing. She had few, very good friends, and she liked it that way.

Except there wasn't must to observe in Stark Tower, with both of its residence away at work most of the time. Eventually, Hensley stuffed her curls into a new yellow beanie, pulled on a green pea coat, and left Stark Tower despite Friday's warning that it was not her best idea.

Hensley had never been to New York before. It wasn't what she was expecting, and yet it was everything that she had predicted. The crowds ignored her as she picked a direction and walked. There were people on the streets spray-painting on cardboard and then selling the artwork. Food carts that became packed at lunch time. The smell of garbage every time she passed an ally. The energy of the city tingled on her skin, but it was the kind of energy anyone would have felt. She wasn't feeling it because of some new powers people kept telling her she had acquired. She felt completely and utterly normal.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Hensley walked over to one of the food carts and ordered a hot dog and a soda. The soda came in a glass, and after she popped the top off and took a sip, Hensley slammed the glass on the corner of a building. Checking over her shoulder, Hensley picked up one of the shards from the sidewalk and pressed it into the palm of her hand until there was blood.

She watched her hand. Nothing happened. Her hand bled, like it should have. She didn't have any powers at all. She could go home.

Hensley had just decided to take a picture of her hand to send to Tony, as proof that she didn't need to stay at Stark Tower, when her hand started to feel warm and cold and it tingled all at the same time. The skin around the cut was coming together, healing from the bottom of the cut to the top layer of skin. For a moment the skin oozed, then became pink, then smooth, until her palm looked as if it had never been cut in the first place.

She could self-heal, after all.

"No," she whispered to herself. Her voice was carried off by the wind almost as soon as it left her lips.

Her phone buzzed in her other hand. Giving one last look to the healed palm, Hensley looked down at her phone, which was displaying the latest news. _Still No Sign of Brown and Bingley_ , was the title of the article. Brown and Bingley were the last names of the two people who had gone missing the day the light had appeared in Hensley's life. Millie Brown had been a girl of eight, Brown a man of forty-two. Both had last been spotted holding a ball of light before they went missing.

Hensley returned to Stark Tower, glancing over her shoulder the entire way.

Tony, Pepper, and Everett K. Ross met Hensley in one of Stark Tower's conference rooms the next day.

Ross was not what Hensley had been expecting. He was shorter than she had imagined, although handsome. He looked both tired and energetic at the same time. Hensley used his pocket knife to cut her palm and show him how it healed by itself.

"Yes." Ross seemed rather unimpressed. "That was exactly what your body did when you were found in the park. The effects seemed to have stayed, then. I doubt it is something that will wear off, if you did, in fact, touch an energy source that came from the Tesseract."

"We don't know for sure that it was the Tesseract," said Pepper. "The last time we saw the Infinity Stone, Thor was taking it to Asgard."

Ross raised an eyebrow.

"Not that I know any details about the lives and missions of the Avenger, of course." Pepper added.

"Of course," said Ross, his voice dry. "Has there been an update, from Thor?"

Tony shook his head. He was the only one still standing in the conference room, his arms crossed. "We haven't heard from him, and can't seem to reach out to him."

Ross turned in his chair to face Tony more directly. "Have we tried Jane Foster?"

Tony rolled his eyes and nodded. "The two split up a few months ago, because of communication problems."

Ross turned to Hensley. "No one else saw you, in the park, correct."

"I don't know," said Hensley. "There was a couple, but they were far away."

"Someone called the ambulance," said Pepper.

"I can't go home?" Hensley said. "Can I?"

Everyone's eyes returned to her, and Hensley felt small and young and silly.

"Not yet," said Tony.

"Likely never," said Ross.

Hensley folder her hands into her lap and stared at them. She could feel their eyes still following her.

"It would be too dangerous," Ross added. "Brown and Bingley went missing for a reason. Someone is out there looking for you, too. And if they don't find you soon, they will go looking for your family, to draw you out. For everyone's best interest and safety, I suggest a new identity."

The meeting continued, but Hensley found that she couldn't hear what anyone said. There was a buzzing in her ears and her throat felt like there was a wade of clay stuck inside that kept her from swallowing. Her family would think she was dead. Her mom would cry for days.

One moment she had been a normal girl, the next moment she had reached up to touch a light. Now she was never going to see her family or friends again. She felt very much alone.

She blinked away the tears before anyone noticed them. She was sitting in a room with people who had all had much worse things happen to them in their lives, she could be strong, too. If this was the start of a new life, she was determined to face it head on. Her mom would have at least been proud of that.

She forced herself to listen to the conversation, and realized that she had been quiet for so long that the others had started speaking to each other as if she was no longer part of the conversation.

"After we find a more secure location I would suggest a bit of training," Ross was saying. "We should try to find out the real power behind the abilities and learn how to control them if we can. We don't want any more surprises than what will naturally come up."

"Vision could help," Tony offered. "He's been moping ever since Cap disappeared with Wanda."

"Wanda might actually be more helpful," said Pepper.

Ross sighed. "She is currently not in our best graces."

"No." Tony finally uncrossed his arms from where they had been locked in place for most of the afternoon. "But maybe it is time we reach out and try to find common ground."

Ross raised an eyebrow.

Tony shrugged. "Every good documentation has amendments. I think it is time we revisit the Accords."

"Tony . . ." Pepper started, then trailed off.

The look that passed between Tony and Pepper held so much information that Hensley wasn't sure how to process it.

"It's okay, Potts," said Tony. "We'll take things one step at a time. I'm sure Barnes won't show up for a good, long, while."


End file.
